One Eternity Later
by Rylak - The Mad Cinder
Summary: A young woman, church-going and married, finds herself in a life and death struggle to survive a game. The winner takes control of time and space in the place of the previous winner, Yukiteru Amano. Can Minene survive? Who are the other eleven diary users, and what are their motives? Contains characters from eleven other series, and Minene having followed a totally different life.
1. Minene Uryuu, The First!

"Murumuru, it is time."

"Time? Time for what?"

"Time to begin the game."

Murumuru looked up at the figure seated high above her. "Again? Is this really necessary?"

"Yes, it is. This time will be a little different from the last though."

She began floating, heading up to where her master was seated. "How will it be different?"

"I have changed the rules for the better. As you know, the last time the game was played there were a fair number of infringements on the rules. This time, I have set in place a means with which I can make sure the rules are followed."

Murumuru was now level with her master, the god of time and space. She held her hands out as if waiting to be given something. "Please, explain these new rules."

He smiled to her. "Last time, an alternate version of yourself interfered, and the second had access to my powers. The third was killed before the game even started, while the fifth was too young to even understand the game. The fourth was in charge of a police force, the eleventh had paid security guards, the sixth had a cult, the twelfth had mind controlled slaves, the tenth had a pack of dogs, and the eighth had children loyal to death. All of these are essentially armies, far beyond the capabilities of the other players to reasonably deal with."

Murumuru spoke. "But, if you remember, the first still won against all odds."

"Do not interrupt. The seventh was two people, and the tenth gave his future diary to someone I had not selected. So away with armies and mind control. Away with mere toddlers pitted against terrorists. All the diary holders this time around will be fully capable of understanding and craving the prize."

"I take it they still have to kill each other."

He crossed his arms. "Of course. What did you expect? A questionnaire?" He shook his head, then made some images appear in front of Murumuru. "Now come and look at who I have chosen."

Murumuru's eyes went wide at the images before her, detailing the twelve diary users. She immediately focused on the first one on the list. "Why is she the only one you chose from the first game?"

"Because I believe she has a good chance of winning."

"But..." She read the writeup beside the image. "Her entire life is different this time around! She'll stand no chance against these others. Half of them could tear her apart without blinking the way she was before! You've turned her into... a pansy!"

"Don't be so hasty to just her, Murumuru. She is still capable of everything she was before, perhaps even more."

"Are you kidding?" She was getting more worried by the second as she read the information on the other diary users. "The guy you've got for third might as well be invincible! Fifth and sixth are trained killers, and tenth is way beyond even them! I don't know what you were thinking when you selected these people, but I don't even want to think about what the universe will look like if ninth or eleventh win! This is ludicrous!"

"Would you just trust me?"

Murumuru sighed, taking a few moments to calm down. "So, how are they all supposed to fight when they're spread all over the world?"

"I made sure the ones that weren't in Japan were fully capable of getting there very quickly."

"So, are you betting that the first will win?"

He nodded. "Care to place your bet?"

She smiled. "Oh yeah. I bet on the seventh."

"The seventh? Why?"

She made it plenty obvious she was kidding. "Well, you're betting on the second most pathetic person of the bunch, so you must know something about it. I figure, the only chance I have at winning is by picking the only person more pathetic."

"That makes no sense and you know it. Who are you really betting on?"

"Eleventh."

"Do you have a legitimate reason this time?"

"He'll crush the first like a bug. That's why."

He shook his head. "We shall see, Murumuru."

She grinned. "Yes we shall, Yukiteru."

* * *

Minene woke up to a pair of lips pressed against her own. She opened her eyes to see her husband's face. She laughed, grabbing his pillow and walloping him with it. He fell over the edge of the bed, laughing as he went.

She peered over the edge at her floored husband. "Nishijima, are you alright?"

Her pillow hit her in the face to his continued laughter. "You know me, my dear. I'm always alright."

She faked a swoon. "Ooh, my invincible super hero. Carry me to my destiny." She held the back of her hand to her forehead in a show of meekness.

He gladly picked her up, one hand supporting her back and the other lifting her legs, then carried her out of the room and down the stairs. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled childishly. When they reached the kitchen, he set her down on a chair and went about preparing breakfast.

She watched him scrambling eggs for a minute before pulling out her cellphone and checking for any new messages. Interestingly enough, there was one that said it was a free new feature for her phone. After a few seconds of considering, she accepted it and watched as a diary application appeared. She had been hoping for something a bit more exciting, but it was free so she didn't complain.

She opened the new feature and watched as a tutorial came up. It spoke. "Hello, and welcome to your new diary application for your mobile phone!"

Minene almost dropped her phone, surprised by how loudly it was speaking. Her husband glanced over to her, an eyebrow raised. He was about to ask what she was doing, and she was about to fill the room with displeased expletives, when the tutorial continued.

"You have been given the "Observer Diary". With this, your surroundings can be recorded from the perspective of a bystander. Oh, look! Your first entry is here! Let's see what it says."

Minene watched, completely dumbfounded, as the message was displayed in front of her. The time the message was recorded was given right beside the message itself, and the actual time was displayed in the bottom corner of the screen. If she was reading it correctly, the message was recorded three minutes in the future.

It read "Mom called in the middle of breakfast."

The tutorial started talking again. "It looks like the time of the diary entry is three minutes in the future! That's weird, huh? Well, let's just wait and see what happens!"

The tutorial shut off, leaving Minene to stare at the screen in complete and utter disbelief. She was just barely aware that her husband had heard the whole thing and was standing behind her, watching over her shoulder.

She slowly turned to look up at him, to which he just smiled and held out two plates of scrambled eggs. "We might as well eat while we're here."

They ate quietly, and while Minene didn't even look up from her food, her husband had been watching her the entire time. Eventually, she looked up to see him staring at her. She swallowed what was in her mouth and brought up the courage to ask.

"What?"

He smiled again. "I was just wondering what you thought about that thing your phone did."

She shook her head. "I have decided it's just a prank. There's no way my phone can tell the future." Just then, her phone rang. She froze, finally reaching into her pocket after the fifth ring. She pulled out her phone, opened it, and answered.

"Hello, honey!"

Minene collapsed face first onto the table, barely avoiding landing her hair in her glass of orange juice. She groaned loudly, but managed to get around to answering after a few seconds. "Hello, Mom."

"Don't sound so disappointed, darling. I just called to check if you were coming to church this morning. I know you usually do, but..."

Minene's phone chirped, indicating she had gotten a new message. She held it in front of her face for a moment and, seeing that it was a new diary entry, she put the phone back to her ear. "Hold on a second, Mom."

She opened the diary and read it. "We just left for church."

She rolled her eyes. It didn't escape her that it was marked as twenty minutes in the future. She put the phone back up to her ear. "Yeah, we're coming."

"Okay, don't be late!"

With that, her mother hung up. A second later, Minene collapsed on the table again. "Nishijima, why can my phone tell the future?"

He shrugged. "I wouldn't complain if I were you. Can you imagine how helpful it would be for work if my phone could tell the future?"

She glared up at him. He was with the police, and was one of their top investigators, so knowing the future would be very helpful to him. Unfortunately... "You mean if you had a phone, right?"

He flinched. "Well, yes. But I would definitely go and get one if I knew for sure it would have a future feature."

Minene finished her breakfast without a word, then went up the stairs and into their room to get dressed. Her phone beeped again, so she checked the diary one more time before heading back down to leave the house with her husband.

Marked as half an hour in the future, it read "Fell asleep in church again."

She groaned, knowing she would get berated by her husband and parents if this prediction came true. She set her phone so it wouldn't beep at her whenever she got an update. She briefly considered having a drink of coffee, but she had always hated the bitter taste and it would take too long to brew anyway. Instead, she just walked downstairs and linked arms with her husband, and they walked out together.

The church they went to wasn't very far from home, so they usually walked there. Her husband had only been going since they married, but she had been going with her parents since she was little. The three of them had gone to the middle-east when she was young, and war broke out. Her parents were wounded in the crossfire, so she had prayed. A young man with dark hair came by and pulled them to safety, taking them to a hospital. After her parents recovered, they returned home and Minene insisted that they start going to church.

Minene's memories were interrupted by the shout of a young girl. "Hello Minene! Hello Nishijima!"

She waved back to the teenager. "Good morning, Ryoko! Are you going to church too?"

Ryoko gave an embarrassed look, twirling her hair around her finger. "What? Uh, no, I don't go to church. Good luck staying awake though!"

Minene smiled back at her, but turned to her husband and frowned. She lowered her voice. "Why would she say something like that?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe a lot of people got that future diary application. She is a teen, so she probably has a phone."

Minene didn't feel like continuing the line of conversation, so they walked the rest of the way in silence. She thought about it though, how many other people had this new future diary thing. She thought about where it came from and why it was being given away for free, and more importantly, how it was even possible.

They arrived at the church just as the morning service was about to begin, walking in quietly and seating themselves. Minene barely payed attention, her mind occupied by the future diary. She felt like something was wrong, like there was a catch. The sermon started and her husband felt the weight of her head on his shoulder as she drifted off to sleep. He silently thanked God that she didn't snore.


	2. The Game Begins

Minene opened her eyes to a truly different scene. She was standing on a platform facing what looked almost like a stadium. There were eleven platforms just like the one she was on that formed a semi-circle along the outside of the stadium with her at one end, and a shadowy figure stood on each platform. The other half of the place was taken up by a huge throne, though the person seated on the throne was far too small for it.

The person on the throne spoke. "Welcome, diary holders!"

To Minene he sounded like a teenager, but something was off. His voice carried more power than one would expect, and it echoed around the room several times before finally dissipating. To make matters more... annoying, he was speaking English. Minene knew the language well, but she would have preferred her native tongue. A few seconds passed and she realized that he wasn't even sitting. He was standing up on the seat of the throne. A black cloak covered most of him and had obscured his actual size at first.

He clapped several times, she guessed applauding but had no clue for what. He spoke again. "You have all done something to warrant my attention, and so you twelve have been chosen."

The dark figure three platforms to her left spoke. "Chosen? For what?" English again. She figured it was safe to assume everyone present knew the language.

The boy on the throne nodded to the one who had asked. "You are going to play a game."

The one directly opposite Minene giggled. "A game, you say? Why would we play this game?"

He smiled in response. "This is a game in which the winner receives my position as the god of time and space. Essentially, the world will be yours."

Minene heard someone gasp, and she could definitely sense that everyone had become much more interested. She managed to get the next question in. "How do we play?"

He looked down at her and smiled. It almost made her feel like he expected her to win. "Each of you has been given a future diary. With these, you will find your way to victory... well... one of you will. For the next ninety days, the game runs. And do not worry, I have seen to it that you all have equal chance to win. It may not seem like it for some of you, but it is true."

He then pointed to Minene. "You are the first. My advice to you is that you find people you can trust and you keep them by your side." He pointed to each of the others in turn, giving out advice accordingly.

"Second. You would be wise, on the other hand, to leave those you trust behind. It would be regrettable if they were unduly harmed."

"Third. Just... be yourself. It's all you need."

"Fourth. If you let the third defeat you, the others will fall nearly instantaneously."

"Fifth. Keep clear of the ninth if you want to stand a chance."

"Sixth. It may not be immediately obvious, but the first is very much like you."

"Seventh. Never put both earphones in at the same time."

"Eighth. Trust your friends. Keep them close."

"Ninth. Do not let your overconfidence get the better of you."

"Tenth. Don't let your weapons get compromised. Once they are gone, so are you."

"Eleventh. Simply remember that you are not the strongest here."

"Twelfth. Be what they see you as, and you stand a better chance of winning."

When he was finished, there was silence. After what seemed like ten minutes, the twelfth asked. "So how do we win?"

"This game is a fight to the death. You win when you are the last one alive."

This shook Minene. She wasn't sure she could kill anyone. She briefly hoped the others all thought the same way, but that hope was dashed when the third spoke to the fourth.

"It seems then that you have something that would be quite valuable to me. I sure hope it's what I think it is, because then I can take it from you when I kill you. I can't wait to find out what it is."

The fourth just shrugged. "I've taken down bastards bigger and uglier than you..."

The seventh spoke, sounding terrified and on the brink of crying. "Wait... isn't there any other way to do this? Can't we avoid killing somehow?"

The ninth piped up. "If you don't want to kill anyone, just come find me. I'll make sure you don't have to do anything ever again." She followed her threat with a giggle.

The sixth crossed his large muscled arms in front of him. "Seventh, you're not scared of that little bitch, are you? Can't you tell she's put on a front?"

The eighth looked over to the ninth. "Know this: I will only participate in this... "game"... to ensure that those of you who with cruel minds and sadistic hearts are dead." He then looked to the third. "And you will not defeat me, no matter how you may try."

The second put her hands on her hips. "So what are the rest of us supposed to do? Fight each other to prove how pure hearted we are?"

The eleventh butted in before the eighth could answer. "You will not have to, for I will destroy you all."

The fifth glanced up at him in response. "You have already been warned about that thinking. Continue it and it will be your downfall."

"All that means is that one of you is stronger. If any of you hope to defeat them, you will obviously require my help in order to overpower them. The other ten of you couldn't possibly be as strong as me even if you all united!"

Minene shook her head, trying to clear it. "No, no... he said we all had equal chance to win. If that is true, then even I should be able to beat you, Eleventh."

Eleventh glared at her in response. "Hah! Just looking at you I can tell that I could crush you like a bug! In fact, I think I'll do exactly that!"

Twelfth shook her head at Minene. "Yup. Now you're fucked."

The boy-god on the throne held up his hand. "Silence, all of you. The game begins now. If you do not fight, then the ones who do will hunt you down."

Fifth looked up to him and addressed him directly. "I do not wish to cause war. My purpose is to bring peace."

The nodded. "Win, and you shall have peace."

After a short moment of considering those words, Fifth nodded. "Then I shall win."

He looked down at each of them in turn. "So you understand what you must do. Now you must go and do it." He raised his hand and everything went black.

* * *

Minene's head hit the cushioned seat of the pew with a soft thump. She lifted her head up and started rubbing the side of her face where a few unsightly lines had appeared. She looked up to see her husband standing over her, smiling down at her.

"Hello sleepyhead. The service is over. Your mother would like to talk with you a bit before we go home."

She sat up straight and pulled her phone out of her pocket, opening it to her diary. "Damn it, the diary was right." She made sure her words were quiet, as they were still in church. She didn't want anyone to hear her cursing.

A new diary entry had appeared, marked as three hours in the future. "The police department just called. Nishijima was killed in a terrorist attack at the airport."

Her hand went to her mouth to prevent anyone from hearing her gasp. A few thoughts ran through her mind before she came up with a plan. She looked up to her husband. "I had a dream."

He kept smiling. "Anything about the hot water you're probably in?"

She nodded. "...Yes... and I think you're in danger as a result. Listen, can you stay away from the airport this afternoon."

He sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Stay away from the airport... I don't see why not." She sighed and held the phone up for him to see. He read slowly, then leaned back and nodded thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, staying away from there sounds like a great idea."

She read the diary entry over a dozen times until something came to her. "If this is correct, that terrorist attack is gonna happen anyway." She turned to him. "Do you have your badge right now?"

He gave her a sideways glance. "My badge? Yes, but why-"

"Do the airport security recognize you or your badge number?"

He shook his head. "No. I've never really gone to the airport."

She reached over and opened her hand in front of him. "Good. Give me your badge and your gun."

He eyed her hand for a moment, trying to think of how to argue, but he eventually gave in. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his badge, placing it in her hand. "The gun is at home."

She took the badge and shove it in her pocket. "Why'd you leave it at home?"

"Cause it's Sunday morning and we're at church. Why would I bring a gun to church?"

She huffed, but nodded. He was right. She checked her phone for the current time. "...Shit. Is there time to get home and then to the airport?"

He shrugged. "You planning to run there?" She just nodded. He scratched his chin. "Hour and a half, tops. Gives you plenty of time. You sure you want to do this?"

She stood up, and turned away from him. "Yes. I don't want this prediction to come true, but more than that I don't want you to die. If I can stop this, then I'll know they can all be prevented. That'll change my entire game plan."

He stood up as well, putting his hands in his pockets. He cocked his head to the side at her last words. "Game plan?"

She turned back to him slowly. "Um... in my dream... I saw eleven other people. They... they were all standing in shadows. We were told that we would have to fight each other... That sounds kind of stupid, doesn't it?"

He smirked, walking past her. "As a reason for going to the airport to stop a terrorist attack, yeah. As a reason to have a game plan... maybe not. Here's an idea. Let's both go to the airport."

"But... the diary said you'd die."

He nodded, grinning. "It also said you were home. If we both go, we can watch each other's backs. I'd prefer it this way, because I don't know if you'd come back alive if you went alone." He put his hand on her shoulder, smiling so close to her face that it would be uncomfortable if they hadn't been married. "Back to this dream. Tell me more."

She looked at the ground, opening her phone and watching the diary closely. She sighed and looked back up to his smiling face. "The others all have future diaries too. We were told that the winner would become the god of time and space. I don't know whether or not to believe it, or how much to believe, but I think these others will come after me."

She looked back down at the diary, only to see that the entry had changed. She held it up and showed it to her husband. "Went to the airport with Nishijima. Sixth killed Twelfth and we befriended Sixth."

He stared at the words on the screen, his mind slowly catching on to what they meant. "Sixth and Twelfth... other diary holders?" She only nodded. He grabbed the back of a pew in order to keep himself from falling over. "Holy..."


	3. Eight Mysterious Diary Holders

Once the plane had stopped, everyone stood and went about shuffling to the door. Near the back, one man stayed seated. He was a big man, with blond hair as well as mustache and beard. He wore a sleeveless vest that showed off his large tattooed arm muscles. His eyes were covered by a pair of red sunglasses, through which he observed one other person who wasn't immediately heading for the exit.

She looked to be in her late teens, with long reddish brown hair that she had tucked under her red coat and a lumpy tan hat covering her head. Beneath her coat was a strange choice of clothing, a rather old-fashioned dress that brushed the ground. He knew nothing about her other than that she had gotten on the plane at the same time as him, back in Sweden.

She noticed him watching her and smiled in his direction. "Hello, friend. Would you mind helping me with my luggage?"

Her accent confirmed for him that she was from Sweden, the same as him. He nodded and stood, moving to help her retrieve her bags from the overhead storage, but a ringing sound distracted her. She pulled her cellphone out of her coat pocket and glanced at the screen, reading something he could not see.

After finishing reading, she looked to him and gave a wide smile. "My daily horoscope says I will meet a new friend today. Is that you?"

He chuckled. "I wouldn't get my hopes too high, but you never know." He reached up and took her bag down, handing it to her. "But I can't carry all my stuff as well as yours." He went back to his seat and pulled a briefcase out from under it, then reached up and got his own bags from the overhead compartment.

She watched him as he tried to carry two large duffel bags and the briefcase. She giggled, then took one of his bags. "Then let me help you carry yours." He followed her to the door, and the two of them stepped out into the airport.

Once they were inside, he heard a beeping noise coming from his own pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out a PDA. A message had appeared on the screen. "I was attacked by one of the other diary holders, but help from the local police department allowed me to eliminate them. The Twelfth is dead."

He put the device away and glanced around. He couldn't see anyone who looked suspicious, but his future diary had told him he would come out victorious. Wherever the Twelfth was lying in wait, he would be ready for her.

He was the Sixth. He was the mercenary. He was always ready.

"You okay?" He turned to the girl beside him. She smiled warmly and held up a bag for him to take. "Time for the metal detectors. Hope you didn't bring your razor, or we're in for a lousy first day in Japan."

He took the bag and laughed. "Don't worry. I have a free pass for my razor."

They stepped up to the pair of metal detectors, each placing their bags on the tables beside them, him on the right and her on the left. The last bag he put down was the one she had carried for him, and he briefly noticed it was lighter than before. He glanced her way, but she just smiled.

Moving the thought out of his head, he turned to the security officer working the metal detector. He reached into his vest pocket and took out a paper that he unfolded and handed to the man. "This is my government license for everything in those bags and that briefcase. I am special forces anti-terrorism."

The man looked over the paper, understanding what was written, then peered inside one of the bags. He went pale, but nodded. "I am so glad you told me that before I looked."

Sixth nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Would've ruined more than a few people's day. However, I'm only here to protect the innocent people of this city."

The man zipped the bag closed. "Well, if that's the case, then good luck. Oh, and please just step through the metal detector."

He was about to hand the man his PDA and step through, when the other metal detector went off. He turned and saw the girl just standing there smiling. The man operating that machine looked at the scanner screen. Then he started shouting.

"She's armed! Stop her!"

Sixth vaulted over the table to his right and pulled the security officer to the ground. He reached up and pulled his bags down as well. He opened the first bag and began assembling a heavy assault rifle. He was done in under ten seconds, but by then it was already too late.

A gunshot rang out across the airport, and the other security guard stopped shouting. His body hit the ground, blood coming out of the new hole in his forehead. The young woman drew a second pistol from under her coat and fired into the crowd of screaming and running people, but her shots only hit signs and garbage cans.

Sixth stood up, his cross hairs aimed at her back. He fired, sending her blood into the air. She stumbled and fell over the security desk, allowing him to see the silver briefcase in her hand. He looked to where he had put his briefcase and, seeing that it was gone, stood up and moved to retrieve it.

When he looked over the desk he saw her lying on her back, a large spot of red staining her dress. She was still clutching the briefcase in one hand and a pistol in the other. She stared at him, her irises a bright red. She smiled, revealing sharp fangs.

She lifted her gun at him, but stopped when he poked her neck with the end of his own, much larger gun. She coughed, spitting out some blood. "Well, that could have gone better."

He was not smiling. "You're telling me. My future diary tells me I kill you here."

She nodded, grinning wildly. "I know it does. It's lying to you." The words came out slowly, dripping venom like a threat.

He still did not smile. "Then what does your diary say."

She reached into her pocket and flipped open her cellphone. She giggled a bit as she read the message. "Oh, it says I gain a few pounds of lead."

Sixth nodded. "Damn right." He pulled the trigger.

* * *

Across the Pacific Ocean, somewhere in the state of Texas, a dark figure stood in front of an apartment door. He looked down at his phone, smiling as he read the diary entry.

"Killed the Fourth in his apartment. What a prize! Now I am unstoppable!"

On the other side of the door, a young man sat on a chair he had placed in the middle of the room. He had been preparing all morning, and now it was time to do or die. He glanced at his own future diary, a new function on his PDA but not an entirely foreign concept to him.

"If Third gets what I have, everyone else is dead and the world will be ruled by a monster. I cannot let this happen."

The door flew open, splinters flying into the room as it was ripped off it's hinges. Third and Fourth faced each other, Third standing and Fourth sitting. Both watched the other coldly, their keen minds analyzing everything they could see.

Then Third looked at the room around the Fourth. This diary holder was a teenager, and looked nothing special, but he remained calm in the face of an intruder he knew nothing about. Third grinned, intrigued by the room he was now in.

The walls were covered in a massive assortment of swords, but no blade shone as brightly as the one in the boy's hands. Fourth smiled to his opponent. "Time's up, man."

* * *

Second looked out over the ocean from a rooftop. She had already said her goodbyes, so now it was time to go. She looked down at her future diary, still finding it both weird and awesome that she had it, and read the latest entry.

"Straight up and over."

She sighed and put it in her pocket, zipping it shut. She didn't want to drop her phone halfway across. She stepped up to the edge of the building and spread her wings, taking to the sky. Once she was high enough to catch the air currents, she set out over the water.

* * *

A teenage girl sat on a train headed for Sakurami City. She sat in silence, watching the screen on her pocket television, her ears occupied by earphones. The news report on the screen was marked two hours into the future. The news reporter's voice was almost smooth, but there were undertones of distress.

"Several people died in an explosion at the police station this morning. Among them was a young married couple and a foreign soldier of fortune..."

She looked up as an older man sat down across from her. He smiled at her and opened a small book. She smiled back, then looked back at her future diary. The image changed to a black silhouette of a man with a gun, a white question mark stamped over the figure.

"Reports are coming in of what appears to be gun-fighting in the streets of Sakurami City. Several people have been killed in the crossfire, and many of those involved have been injured. The reports leave a lot of questions unanswered however, as many dead were found with wounds unlike anything identifiable."

She took a deep breath and turned the device off, pocketing it. She knew she had to get involved, but she had no clue how to do so safely. She was innocent and frightened, but she had to do something. She was the Seventh.

* * *

Fifth sat on a train headed for Sakurami City. His eyes moved from his book to the young lady across from him. She had just put away a portable television and taken her earphones out. He didn't pay her too much mind. She wasn't important. Not yet, anyway. He turned the page in his book and read the words written in front of him.

"The Seventh is innocent and should be protected. Stay with her."

He smiled, closing his book and leaning back. They would arrive at the city in half an hour. Then he would tell her who he was and what he was going to do.

* * *

Eighth was moments away from stepping on a plane that would take him to Japan when he heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned to his friends, a stern and resolute expression on his face.

"Do not attempt to dissuade me from going. There is something I must see to."

A short-haired man in a leather jacket nodded. "Yeah, we figured. That's why we're going with you."

The blond woman beside him just shrugged. "But it would be nice to know what we're getting into beforehand."

Eighth paused for a moment. He then gave his friends a slight bow, conceding to their wishes. "There are some people, possibly a great many, who may be in grave danger. I am in a unique position allowing me to protect them."

The last person present, a man with short spiky hair and a geeky pair of glasses, took a sip of his mysteriously acquired coffee and motioned for him to continue. "What position would that be?"

Eighth glanced around warily before answering slowly. "I have been given a piece of technology that appears to be able to predict the near future." There was a moment of silence, then he explained. "It is a personal communications device that holds a diary function, the entries in which have thus far been able to tell me what future events will take place. I have tested several times. It has proved infallible up till now."

The woman blinked, then gave a quiet laugh. "While that sounds pretty fantastical, I'll be the first to admit it could be possible. Can I check it out?" An overhead speaker blared that the plane was now taking passengers. She pointed to the plane. "While we're on our way, that is."

He gave her a short bow. "Indeed, you may. I must say that I am pleased to have your assistance in this matter. It may very well change the outcome."

The first man started walking towards the plane. "Well, then let's go!"


	4. The Sixth, Mattias Nilsson!

By the time they got to the airport, police cars were already lined up outside. Nishijima leaned on one for a moment to catch his breath, and his partner walked over to him. She was a young woman by the name of Natsuko Ooshima. Her eyes and hair were very similar to Minene's own, except her hair was done up in a ponytail and she wore small glasses.

She glanced at Minene. "What's she doing here?"

Nishijima shook his head. "She's the reason I knew to come. She got a... tip."

His partner grimaced. "Well, we've got two people in there trading fire. One came fully armed, but he's special forces and he had a permit. The other one is some girl who managed to pinch a bag of the guy's guns. She's already killed someone, and we think she might also be hit. We're going in in two minutes. Are you up for it."

He nodded. "Get me another gun, and two bulletproof vests. I want a minimum number of people going in. That's you, me, and Minene."

She called to another officer, who tossed her the requested items. She handed them to him. "Why is she coming in?"

He looked over at his wife and tossed her one of the vests, which she caught and started putting on. He turned back to Natsuko. "The special forces guy in there is a contact of hers. I need to make sure this meeting goes properly."

She stood and reluctantly handed the gun to Minene, who accepted it but gave her a strange look. Natsuko looked over at Nishijima. "Keigo's going to want to come in as well."

"He's the chief. He's allowed."

"Yes, well, I doubt he'll be happy about bringing her in."

"Could you talk to him?"

She frowned down at her partner. "Fine, but this means we're even." She walked off to inform their chief that an untrained young woman would be joining them.

Nishijima stepped over to Minene. "My partner's getting the police chief to let you in on this. I sure hope you're ready."

She gave him a wry look. "If I let you go in there alone you might not come back out. I've got to be there with you." She flipped open her phone to check for any new diary entries.

Natsuko walked up beside Nishijima, an unhappy look on her face. "Oh, god. Really? What are you doing, texting your friends right before going into a war zone?"

Minene read the latest diary entry, an extra detail that hadn't been there before. "Twelfth had Nishijima and Kurusu pinned down. I shot her."

She didn't even look up at Natsuko to respond to her. "Nishijima, when we go in, you and the chief need to go around her right. Keep her distracted so I can get in behind her."

Nishijima nodded in agreement, but Natsuko wasn't done. "Great, and what am I supposed to do? Stand in the middle of the room?"

Minene flipped her phone closed and pocketed it. "If you like. It would serve as a great distraction, don't you think? Also, if you wouldn't mind shooting at her head while you're there..."

Nishijima smiled and walked away, waving to them as he moved toward the airport entrance. "Thirty seconds, ladies."

They watched him go briefly before Natsuko slammed her hand down on the police car beside her. She fixed Minene with a glare. "Alright, listen. I don't know what you think you're up to, but if you get anyone other than yourself or the terrorist killed in there I will see to it that you never get out from behind bars. You got that?"

Minene just walked past her. "You're the one who's in over her head here. I already know how this is going to play out."

Natsuko turned to follow her. They got to the airport terminal's front entrance where Nishijima was waiting for them with police chief Kurusu Keigo. The middle-aged man looked at Minene, still not sure he wanted to bring her in with them.

Keigo looked over to Nishijima. "I hope you're right about her." He turned back to the two women. "The deal here seems simple enough. There's a terrorist in there spraying bullets at a special forces operative. If we go in with a full force, she'll spray bullets at us too. The less of us there are, the less targets there are. She doesn't have any hostages, so we just have to go in there and bring her down. I would prefer alive, but I don't need it."

Nishijima opened the door and ushered them in. "They're at gate seven. The chief and I will go in first and link up with our new friend. We'll draw the terrorist's fire while you two get behind her."

Once they were in, they split up. Keigo and Nishijima moved in straight towards their target. They could all hear the sounds of the gunfight. When they approached the gate they saw that the fight was below them, at the bottom of an escalator.

Twelfth was sheltered behind an overturned desk in the middle of the isle while Sixth had taken cover behind one of the large pillars along the outside wall. Much to Natsuko's annoyance, Minene took the lead and headed for the opposite row of pillars. Natsuko silently followed, feeling flattened under the glare she got from Keigo.

The two men opened fire at Twelfth, forcing her to take cover. Taking the opportunity, they jumped down beside the escalator. Nishijima, who got down first, fired a few more shots into the overturned desk. A few more seconds bought, they ran to the row of pillars. Keigo stopped behind the closest column, standing with his back to it. Nishijima ran across a few more, sliding to a stop behind the pillar next to Sixth's.

None of this had escaped Twelfth's attention. She shoved the desk forward, moving her cover closer to her targets. She called out to Sixth. "So how's this gonna go? You planning to link up with Eighth and Seventh, or what?"

Sixth just shook his head and glanced to Nishijima. "Do you have a plan other than getting pinned down with me?"

Nishijima shrugged. "My wife is the one with the plan." The big man just stared blankly at him, so he explained. "You would know her as the First."

He vacantly checked his weapon's ammo. "Is that supposed to reassure me?"

The young detective nodded enthusiastically. "Her future diary has been saying that she teams up with you. Frankly, I think it would be a good idea."

Behind Twelfth, hidden from her sight, Minene pulled her phone out to check for any more helpful tips. She read the new entry and frowned. "Natsuko gave away our position!"

Natsuko looked over at her and, noticing that she was looking at her phone again, snapped angrily at her. "What the hell are you doing? Put that thing away!"

A barrage of gunfire peppered the pillars they were using as cover, and the Twelfth called in their direction. "You're not invited, loudmouth! You can't play this game!"

Sixth jumped out from behind his cover and opened fire at Twelfth's back. She fell to the ground, five fresh holes in her body. Natsuko rushed out and kicked the gun out of her hand, aiming her own weapon at Twelfth's head. She started to move, trying to get back up, when a Minene aimed down at her and emptied her full clip.

Natsuko jumped back. "Holy shit! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Minene reached down and flipped the girl over, suddenly feeling queasy at the sight of all the blood that had drained out of the myriad wounds. She backed up and sat down, being sure to not sit in any red puddles. "She was still alive..."

"She was unarmed!"

Keigo and Nishijima rushed over. Sixth followed at a slower pace, watching both women carefully. He looked at Minene. "She kicked me across the room. That was after I put a round through her. Good call in finishing her off."

Minene forced a smile, but she was actually starting to feel sick. She briefly looked up at Sixth, but she quickly averted her eyes. She struggled to her feet and walked away. The others all watched her scramble up the escalator and stagger towards the nearest door.

Nishijima was about to go after her when Natsuko stopped him. "I'll make sure she's okay. You boys stay here and have your fun." She made a face. "Let me rephrase that..."

Keigo nodded. "Duly noted. Go on."

She ran off, chasing after Minene, catching up to her outside. Minene was sitting on the curb outside the airport. She was breathing heavily and choking back tears. She looked up at Natsuko but didn't say a word.

Natsuko sighed and sat down beside her. "I take it that's the first time you've... killed someone."

Minene turned it into a list. "Killed someone, shot someone, fired a gun, saw someone die..."

"You look close to being in shock. Are you gonna be okay?"

Minene shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. "Yeah... It's not the first time I've been shot at."

Natsuko was surprised at that. "It's not?"

"No, but I don't want to talk about it..." She looked to Natsuko and nodded to her. "You were right. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't even have been in there."

Natsuko put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, if that guy was telling the truth, you probably just saved my life. Now, I don't like that you did it, but I think it's better than the other option. She could have killed me, Keigo, Nishijima, and who knows how many other people before someone brought her down."

Minene shook her head. "She couldn't have been more than fifteen."

"I know. Not a good example of the up and coming generation, was she?" The sound of footsteps caught her attention, and she turned to see the large Swedish man. She stood and nodded to him. "I... I'll let you two talk."

He watched her go until she was out of hearing range, then sat down beside Minene. "So you're the First."

She reluctantly nodded. "I guess I am."

He held his hand out to her. "I am Sixth. My name is Mattias Nilsson."

She took his hand and meekly shook it. "I'm Minene."

"So, Minene. Any plan on how to find the other diary holders?"

Minene stood up, prompting him to stand as well. She wiped her arm across her eyes. "What are you planning to do when you find them?"

He looked down at her, standing over a foot taller. She shrunk back slightly. He just grunted. "If they shoot at me I will shoot back. If we can get an agreeable number of them to join us, then we may be able to end this stupid game before too many people die unnecessarily."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, okay. I can agree to that. We should let Nishijima help too."

"I'll accept that. His partner too, perhaps?"

Minene frowned. "I'm not so sure about her. For all we know, she could be another diary holder... come to think of it, I might know where to find another one."

He arched an eyebrow. "Someone you know?"

"My neighbor... she knew I would fall asleep in church this morning."

* * *

A black body bag was loaded into the back of a truck. Natsuko sat down beside it as the doors were closed behind her. Now that she was alone, she reached into her pocket and lifted out a cellphone. She flipped it open and, seeing that the diary function was flashing, pressed the button to bring it up.

The diary entry was marked at some time in the near future. The entry itself was strange. "Gained a new ally."

She closed the phone and returned it to her pocket. She reached over and unzipped the black bag, revealing a pair of red eyes staring back at her. She laughed quietly to herself. "I'm told your cellphone tells the future."

What should have been a corpse smiled back at her, showing inhuman fangs. "I'm not the only one."

"Well, your wounds have almost healed by now. If you really are who and what you said you are, then I want to see proof."

Climbing out of the bag, Twelfth stood up in the back of the truck. Her hat was gone, giving Natsuko a perfect view of her two pointed wolf ears. The tip of a wolf's tail was showing from under her bloodstained skirt, swishing back and forth excitedly.

Twelfth grinned widely, showing off her fangs more. "I assure, I am everything that I say I am."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Nope, not giving you any names for the Twelfth just yet. Of course she's not dead. That would be too easy. Also, Natsuko is still alive because Minene isn't a terrorist. This may be a good thing, but it might also be somewhat bad. Natsuko is also a tad crabby in this story, but as you can see, she will turn out alright... Or... maybe not? Guess you'll have to wait and see.


	5. Can You Still See It, Ninth?

Keen blue eyes watched from behind the steering wheel as the police truck went past. She had been waiting for it and, after waiting a moment, she pulled her car out behind the truck. She knew the Twelfth was in the truck, and she knew she couldn't kill her. She knew how to do the deed, but she also knew it was impossible for her.

She was the killing machine. She was the Ninth.

Her diary told her everything, for her diary was everything and in everything. The Data Diary had only one fault. It could not actually predict anything. What it gave her was enough, however. It told her everything present and past, an advantage well worth the lack of future knowledge.

She pulled her car up along the side of the truck. The police officer in the passenger seat noticed her in his rear view mirror. She accelerated until her window was right beside his door. She opened her window, so he did the same. He leaned out to see her smile up at him.

She reached her hand up and stuck her middle finger in his face, yelling at him. "Fuck you pigs!"

He scowled down at her. "Why you little-"

He was cut off when she swerved into the truck, pushing it into a lamp post at the side of the road. The truck stopped instantly and both men hit the dashboard hard. Ninth's car skidded to a stop ahead of the truck. She kicked the door open and bolted over to the truck before the men could recover. She punched her hand through the passenger side door, grabbed a tender spot between his legs and pulled her hand back. She dropped the bloody mess in her hand and pried the door off, tossing it aside.

The man inside had already fainted from shock and was slowly bleeding to death, so she punched the back of his neck and severed his spine. She grabbed his gun out of it's holster and shot at the driver, spraying his brains onto the window beside him. Witnesses were down. Now she moved to the back of the truck and opened the doors.

* * *

The truck smashed into something solid that refused to move. The impact knocked Twelfth off the stretcher and sent her tumbling around the back of the truck. Natsuko fell down as well, hitting her head on the corner of something. She never found out what it was, but when she came to she was outside the truck. In fact, the truck was nowhere to be seen. Her hands and feet had been bound and, more embarrassingly, her shirt had been taken. She was left wearing a bulletproof vest of all things.

Looking around, she determined she must have been in someone's living room. She heard a noise from behind her, so she rolled over to face whatever it might have been. What she saw was Twelfth, bound in the same manner as her except she had been denied a vest to cover herself and she had also been gagged. Natsuko groaned and rolled over again, facing away from Twelfth.

Behind Natsuko, Twelfth spat as her gag was removed. "Who the hell do you think you are!? Do you know who I am?! I'll tear you apart for mistreating me in this manner!"

Natsuko looked back over her shoulder to see who had captured them. What she saw was a teenage girl with long blue hair. The girl laughed at Twelfth. "Of course I know who you are! You're the twelfth diary holder. You're also the great Wolf Holo, though you're not so great anymore." She rested her head on her hand and made a pitying face. "Too be honest, it's actually quite sad that you've gone somewhat mad over the years."

Holo, the Twelfth, growled fiercely at the girl. "How dare you talk to me like that! I was worshiped as a goddess centuries before you were ever conceived!"

She nodded. "Yes, I know how old you are. Down to the second, in fact. Oh, and as for your other question..." She curtsied to her captives. "I am Ryoko Asakura, but you can just call me the Ninth. Also, technically, I was never conceived. I was created by a being called the Data Integration Thought Entity for the purpose of observing Humans that it found to be of interest. I have since left that behind me in favor of this game. I must admit that I have my own reasons for craving godhood, but I was unable to hide the game from the Data Integration Thought Entity. Thankfully, once it realized the end result, it condoned my participation in the hopes that winning this game could grant us the key to our auto-evolution."

Natsuko was having a bit of trouble comprehending what had just been said. "Wait... you're and alien?"

Holo snorted. "What, like E.T.? How stupid do you think I am?"

Ryoko laughed. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?"

"Actually, wouldn't it be the pot calling the kettle _not_ black?"

Ryoko spun around to face the unwelcome intruder. "Who are you?! How did you sneak up on me?!"

It was a pink-haired girl wearing a schoolgirl uniform. Clutched in her hand was a large ax which she promptly hoisted over her head. She chopped down at Ryoko, but only hit the wooden floor. Ryoko was beside her, driving her knee into the girl's stomach and sending her flying into the wall. The girl didn't stay down, bouncing straight back up and swinging the ax. She followed up with a laugh that signaled to Natsuko that the girl may not have been fully sane.

Feeling something sharp touching her wrist, Natsuko flinched and pulled away. Holo whispered to her. "Stop moving. I need to free you so you can get me out. Then we stick this bitch to the ceiling with a mop handle and get out of here."

Natsuko shuffled back so Holo could finish freeing her. "Agreed, but you're gonna have to do the cleaning up on your own."

Holo's claws ripped through the binding. Natsuko looked up to see Ryoko standing above her, facing her pink-haired attacker. Ryoko went to leap in towards her enemy, but Natsuko caught her foot and tripped her. The blunette hit the ground face first with a solid thud. Another thud followed as the girl with the ax chopped into Ryoko's back.

Behind Natsuko, Holo flipped over. "Get me out of this quickly! She'll notice us any time now, and then it's bits and pieces."

The girl noticed them immediately, but only smiled as if she hadn't just lodged a large weapon in someone's back. "Hello! My name is Yuno Gasai! I just came here to serve justice to bad people."

Holo bumped Natsuko with her knee. "Let me rephrase that. Get me the fuck out of here before she kills me!"

"At least you're honest..." Natsuko looked at Holo's bindings and, realizing it was duct tape, started on freeing her feet instead. Once she was free, she stood and grabbed Yuno's ax. "That'll do."

Yuno just watched as she freed Holo. The schoolgirl smiled once they both stood up. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

Holo reluctantly pointed to herself, asking for confirmation. Yuno nodded. Holo sighed. "Fine, but only one and only because you just saved me... maybe."

Yuno giggled. "Are you Human?"

Holo's ears twitched and her tail swished around. "Decidedly not. Happy?"

"Always!" She turned and skipped toward the door. "You're going to want to leave now, I think."

There was a knock at the door.

* * *

Minene knocked on the door again, waiting for Ryoko to answer. A few seconds passed, and she was about to knock again, when the door suddenly opened. The girl behind the door had pink hair, and was therefor definitely not Ryoko.

Minene frowned at the obvious intruder. "Who are you?"

"I'm Yuno Gasai. Who are you?"

Minene blinked. "Gasai... you were one of my students last year, weren't you?"

"I thought I recognized you..."

Minene shrugged, figuring that Ryoko was about the same age as Yuno, so they might be friends. "Whatever. Is Ryoko home?"

Yuno hadn't dropped her wide grin the entire time. "Yup! She's just lying down. It's been a long day, you know."

"Sure has. Can we come in and talk to her?" Minene put her hand on the door for emphasis. "It's important."

Yuno stepped back, letting her in. "Sure thing. Just come right in." She skipped into the next room. "Asakura, someone's here to see y-"

Minene stopped when Yuno stumbled back out of the room. She looked a little sickly all of a sudden. "Are you alright?"

Mattias stepped halfway through the door, gripping a pistol in his hand. "Someone just left out the back!"

Minene was about to run out the door in order to make chase but Yuno collapsed onto the ground, revealing a large ax buried in her back. Minene screamed and rushed to the girl's side. "Come on, Yuno! We'll get you out of here! Just hold on..."

Suddenly, Ryoko was standing in the doorway ahead of Minene. "I am Ryoko Asakura. I am a representative of the Data Integration Thought Entity, a metaphysical intelligence that has reached the limit of it's evolution. Intervention must occur for further advancement in this area, and my promotion to godhood has been deemed the easiest method. I have been given all authority to manipulate the data flow in this world in order to win this game."

Minene tried to back away, but was slowed down by dragging Yuno along the ground. She looked up at Ryoko in complete terror. "You are one of the other diary holders, aren't you?"

Ryoko grinned. It was a wicked grin, laced with all sorts of evil. "I am the Ninth." A long knife appeared in her hand. "And this world will be mine to rule!"

"You're not going to rule anything." Mattias aimed his pistol at Ryoko's head and fired.

A hole appeared in Ryoko's forehead, and she fell back into the doorway. Minene's mind reeled as Ryoko's blood spattered on her face, but not as much as when Ryoko caught herself on the door frame. She lifted herself up, the hole in her head still bleeding, and started to laugh.

"You can't kill me! No mortal being can harm me! I think the only way to destroy me now would be to break my diary, and there's no way you can do that! My diary is everything I see!" She started to laugh, the blood from her head pouring onto the ground at her feet.

A second gunshot sent Minene ducking for cover, but she quickly looked up as Ryoko's mad laughter abruptly stopped. Ryoko reached up to feel at the new hole in her head, this time through her eye. She frowned in disappointment.

Mattias never wavered. "Can you still see it?"

Ryoko's remaining eye widened. The knife clattered to the floor. "No..." Her face contorted into a mixture of pain and confusion. "No." She doubled over, fixing Mattias with a look of complete and utter hatred. Something else was mixed in as well. Fear.

Minene closed her eyes and covered Yuno's body with her own, letting Mattias watch on his own. Ryoko looked at her hand as her fingertips slowly turned to a white powder-like substance that began to swirl around her. She was trembling with pain, something she had never thought possible.

"It hurts..." She whimpered and fell to her knees. "No..." Suddenly, as if some invisible monster had started to tear at her, her body began to fly apart. She screamed, and Minene knew that sound would haunt her for a long time. "NO! NO! NO! NO!"

Then her body simply imploded, collapsing in on itself as if a black hole had appeared in her chest. The screaming ended. All sound had ended. There was nothing left of Ryoko Asakura.

* * *

"Hey. Is this your stop?"

Seventh opened her eyes. She had taken a small nap on the train, and the older man who was sitting across from her had been kind enough to wake her up. She heard the announcement overhead.

"_Sakurami Station. Prepare for departure._"

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yes, this is my stop, my stop."

He nodded. "Good. It's mine too." They stepped off the train together, and he was carrying her bag for her. He smiled down at her. "So, what's your plan?"

She looked back up at him. "My plan?"

"For when you meet the other diary holders."

She backed away from him, her eyes darting to her bag. "You..."

"I am the Fifth, and I have made it my mission to protect you. I will only attempt to win this game should I fail in helping you win."

She began to tear up. "Th-thank you..." She looked around at the crowds of people getting on and off the train. "Um... my name is Rena..." She held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, to meet you."

He shook her hand politely. "Good girl. This world needs a ruler who will rebuild it in into an innocence it does not know. I believe you can bring this peace in a way no one else can."

She blushed. "Thank you."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Two diary holders revealed (Three if you're clever), and one destroyed. Also, Yuno is maybe on the fence when it comes to allegiance. Yes, Yuno will be fine. She's still Yuno, you know. An ax stuck in her back isn't going to stop her. Anyway, I think I'm going to have multiple divergent plots for this story. That means that (maybe not next chapter) I will write that scene again with a different outcome. Hopefully, if I can pull it off, this story will have twelve different endings.


	6. Rena Ryuugu, The Seventh!

The room was littered with various weapons, most of which were swords. The walls where the weapons had been hanging were now covered in cuts and scratches, damage suffered from the battle. In some places, swords had been stabbed into the wall, floor, and the ceiling.

The Third was having more difficulty than he had anticipated in catching the Fourth. Despite being a boy in his mid-teens, Fourth seemed to be adept at moving extremely fast and quietly. Sometimes, it seemed like he appeared in one spot before he actually disappeared from another.

That isn't to say Fourth was having an easy time. Third had quickly revealed a number of supernatural abilities, pulling the swords off the walls with a mere thought and flinging them at Fourth. Only his skill and training, with some of his own powers, kept him from becoming a pincushion.

Fourth landed in the center of the room, quickly parrying two swords that were aimed at his head. They fell to the ground, only to be replaced by others, then they too were blocked and dropped. Third just kept picking them up again and hurling them at his target. Fourth ducked and rolled under a sword, then jumped up at Third with his own sword at the ready.

The blade went clean through it's target, sticking out the Third's back. The swords that had been flying around the room suddenly dropped to the floor. Fourth pulled the sword out of his opponent, letting him fall to the ground. Ignoring the mess, Fourth sheathed his sword and walked to the door.

A voice called from somewhere else in the apartment. "Where you going?"

He checked his PDA for an update. Taking in the information it gave, he looked over his shoulder and called back. "Japan. I'll be back in a few months, tops."

"Okay. Don't die. I'd hate to see your training go to waste."

Fourth smirked. "I'll be fine, Bro. Catch ya later." He opened the door and left, closing it behind him. He shrugged at the thought of the mess he had left for his bro to clean up, figuring it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

* * *

After an the ambulance came and took Yuno to the hospital, Minene and Mattias made their way to the police station. When they stepped through the door, they were faced with Keigo Kurusu. He just shook his head and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, indicating a specific room.

"Nishijima brought all your weapons in. He'll fill you in properly."

They entered the room, finding Nishijima looking over Mattias' weapons. He looked somewhat pleased and, noticing them, smiled. "If we're walking into a war zone, I think we're pretty well prepared. Glad to have you on our side, Nilsson."

The muscular Swedish man nodded in response. "It's all I could get onto the plane."

Minene looked at the array of guns, realizing just how much she had no idea what she was doing. She stepped away from the table where the guns were set out. "Uh... I don't think I want to pick up a gun again."

Mattias grabbed something else and handed it to her. "Then try this."

She eyed it for a moment. "Is this a... grenade?"

He shrugged. "Actually, here's an idea..." He grabbed a bag that read "plastic explosives" on the side and handed it to her, taking the grenade and replacing it with a whole grenade belt. "We're supposed to be more alike than we seem. If that's true, you should have at least an appreciation of explosions."

Minene looked like she was considering it, but when she looked to Nishijima for help she found that he was trying to keep from laughing. She draped the belt over her shoulder and put the bag down, glaring at her husband. "What do think is so funny?"

He took a second to straighten out his face, then answered. "Funny? What? No, nothing's funny here. Just the thought of you using explosives is... just a little... ridiculous."

She shook her head. "After what's already happened today, I may need it."

Nishijima nodded. "Yes, about that... they found the truck that Twelfth was in. Someone forced it off the road. The two men that were in the front are dead, and Natsuko and the body are missing."

Minene went pale. "Could Twelfth be still alive?"

Mattias grumbled. "Damn. Next time I'm just going to explode her."

Nishijima held his hand up. "Now, hold on. Natsuko is missing too. We checked and made sure Twelfth was dead, so my main concern is getting my partner back safely."

Minene sighed. "I just hope it's not another diary holder. We've already dealt with two today."

Before Nishijima could ask, Mattias filled in the blanks. "We ran into the Ninth. She won't be a problem any longer."

Nishijima blinked. "Oh... well... that leaves eight more, right?" Mattias shrugged and Minene nodded. He gave a weak smile. "I hope some of them will be friendlier..."

* * *

Fifth looked across the street at the police station. He looked down at the girl beside him. "Are you sure you want to ask these people for help?"

She smiled up at him. "We don't have to tell them everything. They wouldn't believe most of it, I think." He took a deep breath, and she sensed that he was unsure. "You do not trust them, trust them?"

He hesitantly shook his head. "If I trusted the police to do their job properly, I wouldn't be trying to change the world like this. If I cannot protect you, then they stand no chance at it."

"What about them and you and you..."

He arched an eyebrow. "...Perhaps... we shall see."

They walked across the road and into the police station. A policewoman who looked like she had walked in just ahead of them looked over at them. She had purple hair done up in a ponytail, and she was wearing glasses.

She smiled kindly enough. "Hello, can I help you?"

Fifth stood behind the girl and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Yes. I believe this girl's life may be in danger. The same people who are after her may also be a danger to myself, but that is of little concern. I would appreciate if she received the best guard you can give us."

She glanced around, then shrugged when she realized there was no one else to pass the job off to. "Come with me. Me and my partner are a little busy, but this should fit right in."

* * *

They reluctantly followed her as she headed to the room where she usually met up with Nishijima. She opened the door and stepped in, ushering them in next. The other three occupants of the room looked up in surprise.

"Natsuko! Where did you go?"

She pointed to a few chairs off to the side, and the other two sat down. She turned back to her partner. "That's not important. What is important is these two." She motioned to the older man and the girl. "I think they may be familiar to your wife..." She glanced sideways at Minene.

The man had taken a moment to open up a small book. Now he slid it back into his pocket and stood up. He looked at each of the others in turn, taking a longer look at Mattias and the table of guns. "You have me curious. What is your objective in all of this?"

Minene waited for a few seconds, then took out her phone. She looked at the diary and read it, aware that everyone was now watching her. "There was an explosion at the police station! DEAD END."

She looked up to the man, watching him very closely. "You... you're a diary holder, aren't you?"

He nodded. "This girl is as well. She is the seventh." Minene glanced around him to see the girl was watching a small television that she had taken out of her bag. The man continued. "Her name is Rena Ryuugu."

Mattias chuckled. "The Seventh. You should be relieved to hear that we've already taken care of Ninth. She won't be a threat to anyone anymore." He nodded to Minene. "I am the Sixth, Mattias. And she is the First."

Minene sighed and put her phone away. "Just call me Minene. My diary says this whole place is going to explode in ten minutes, so I think we should get out of here."

Rena looked up. "My diary agrees. Yes it does."

Natsuko winced, her brain starting to hurt a little. "Okay... shouldn't we try to stop the explosion? There's other people here. We can't just leave and let everyone else die."

Minene shrugged. "Yeah, you're right." She reached up to pull the grenade belt off her shoulder, but instead only pulled one of the grenades off the belt. She stared at the armed explosive in her hand. "Uh... shit."

* * *

In a dark room, hidden behind a screen, a young girl sat alone. She didn't mind that it was dark. She couldn't see very well either way. She spent her life in this room, rarely going outside. She never went beyond the walls of the shrine. Every day was spent waiting for the night, dreading what would come.

Any minute now, that man would walk into the room again. Then he would use her for his own desires. She hated this life, and she hated him. She knew that he had killed her parents in order to gain control of her worshipers, but she had no way to prove it. No one would believe such a frail child anyway.

There was a loud crashing sound from outside, almost like an explosion. Following that, she heard shouts as people rushed around. She wondered what was going on, and silently hoped that man had been killed. Some shouts turned into screams. She started to think that maybe, just maybe, someone was coming to end her misery. She started to smile sadly. At least it would be over.

The door opened and he walked in. It was that man. She could tell it was him by the way he walked. She caught the glint of a blade in his hand. He had come to kill her. He didn't want anyone finding out what he had done to her over and over again. Everything else was just a blur to her as he raised the blade to strike. Her sight began to blur even more, filling up with tears.

Then something hit her face. Something wet and warm. She looked down at herself and realized it was all over her. It was blood. Had he already killed her and she just hadn't noticed yet? She heard the knife hit the floor, causing her to look up. Then his body hit the floor. He was dead. Who saved her? She looked around, but no one was there.

But something felt wrong. She couldn't see anyone, but she could feel that someone was in the room with her. Then she heard breathing. It didn't sound normal. There was a strange clicking sound every time the person breathed. She still couldn't see anyone. There were footsteps getting closer, until it was like someone was standing right in front of her, but her eyes wouldn't let her see anything.

She looked up, and her heart almost stopped. Above her, seemingly floating in the air, were a pair of glowing green eyes. They were watching her, scanning her. She knew what it was that had saved her life. It was inhuman. It was a monster.

The Tenth diary holder left Tsubaki Kasugano in that room with the body of the man who had abused her for so long. It wouldn't attack her. She was defenseless. He didn't attack weak children. Killing that man wasn't really his purpose here either, but it had shown him that this race killed their own weakened young. He wouldn't do that. He was here to hunt the strong ones. The fighters and killers were his prey.

He was the Predator.


End file.
